Dessert recipes

Chocolate mint mousse made with semi-sweet chocolate, creme de menthe, whipped cream, and decorative chocolate wedges. A rich, elegant dessert with a cool minty finish.

Fat-free pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving with a no-butter bread crumb crust, egg-white-only filling, and skim evaporated milk. A lighter holiday classic with all the warm spice.

Kolaches (kolacky) made with a tender cottage cheese and butter dough, filled with pineapple or apricot filling, and dusted with powdered sugar. A Czech pastry classic.

Beet cake with orange cream cheese frosting uses grated fresh beets for a deeply moist, spiced layer cake with a rosy hue. Topped with toasted walnuts, it's a lighter twist on carrot cake.

Strawberry daiquiri pie blends cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, daiquiri mix, and light rum into a chilled boozy pie. No-bake summer dessert, freezer-friendly.

Lemon cream dream: a no-bake layered dessert with lemon cookie crust, lemon pudding-cream cheese filling, whipped topping, and fresh strawberries and blueberries. A summer crowd-pleaser for six.

Old-fashioned buttermilk pound cake with butter, shortening, and five eggs for a dense, velvety crumb. Baked in a tube pan with a tender tang from real buttermilk.

Fresh raspberry crisp with an oat and brown sugar crumble topping baked until golden. A six-ingredient summer dessert that lets ripe raspberries do all the talking.

Old-fashioned 1850 blackberry pie with five ingredients. Berries baked into a single crust under a flour, sugar, and milk custard for a rustic 19th-century farmhouse pie that sets into a soft, jammy slice.

Rhubarb bars with an oatmeal crumble crust and topping sandwiching a sweet-tart rhubarb filling with orange zest. A spring dessert that puts seasonal rhubarb to good use.

Diabetic-friendly yellow cake made with sugar substitute, egg whites, and a fluffy seven-minute frosting. A lower-sugar birthday cake with tender crumb and pillowy frosted top.

Lighter chocolate oat squares with low-fat yogurt and just 3 tablespoons of butter, topped with a cocoa cream cheese icing. A fudgy, moist bar that satisfies chocolate cravings without the guilt.

Pineapple charlotte with crushed pineapple, unflavored gelatin, beaten egg whites, and whipped topping. A light, airy no-bake dessert served in stem glasses with a cherry on top.

English orange trifle layered with liqueur-soaked quick bread, vanilla pudding with orange zest, and marmalade, frosted with sweetened whipped cream. A make-ahead showstopper dessert.

Wespennester (wasp nests), a rare traditional German fried pastry from the Oberallgau region. Batter layers are built on wooden spoon handles and filled with honey.

Decadent chocolate turtle pie layers a milk chocolate graham crust, a silky filling of homemade caramel folded into dark chocolate custard, and a crown of pecans and chocolate chips. Caramel, chocolate and nuts in every bite.